Test Item File- Practice Test - Society, Ethics, and Technology, Update Edition,Winston,4e

Winston Edelbach--Essays
Chapter 1.1


ESSAY
1. What factors did Adam Smith point out as encouraging technological innovation? Explain the
mechanisms by which they might do this, and provide examples of such innovation.
ANS:
This question should be answered primarily from Landes’ article.
PTS: 1
2. Why were the inventions of (a) eyeglasses, (b) the water wheel, and (c) the mechanical clock so
important?
ANS:
This question should be answered using Landes’ article.
PTS: 1
3. What are the types of dependency that persons are subject to in (a) agricultural socities, and (b)
industrial socities? Is it true that persons are more indpendent in industrial socities? Explain your
answer.
ANS:
This question should be answered by drawing on Cowan’s article.
PTS: 1
4. Is it true that new technologies for use in the home provided rich-world housewives with
increased leisure? Explain your answer, and outline he difficulties that might be faced by
someone who wanted to provide a complete data-based response to this question.
ANS:
This question should be answered from Edgerton’s article.
PTS: 1
5. What does Rosalind Williams think of the view that innovation can lead us to a “Utopia of
freedom”? Do you agree with her assessment, or not? Explain your answer.
ANS:
This question should be answered by drawing on Rosalind Williams’ essay.
PTS: 1

,Winston Edelbach
1.1


MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Who wrote The Wealth and Poverty of Nations?
a. David Lodge c. Adam Smith
b. David Landes d. Adam Lodge
ANS: B
David Landes wrote The Wealth and Poverty of Nations
PTS: 1
2. How many water wheels were in England in 1086?
a. Around 2,000 c. Around 5, 600
b. Around 3, 600 d. Around 7, 000
ANS: C
There were around 5,600 water wheels in England according to the Domesday census of 1086.
PTS: 1
3. Which civilization was power-based in the thirteenth century?
a. China c. The Arab nations
b. India d. Europe
ANS: D
Europe was a power-based civilization in the C13th.
PTS: 1
4. Where were eyeglasses allegedly first produced?
a. Pisa c. Naples
b. Rome d. Geneva
ANS: A
According to a witness writing in 1306 eyeglasses were first produced in Pisa
PTS: 1
5. What is “the key machine”?
a. The lock c. The mechanical clock
b. The water wheel d. The eyeglass
ANS: C
Lewis Mumford called the mechanical clock the key machine.
PTS: 1
6. The clock was the first example of what sort of device?
a. Mechanical c. Digital
b. Analog d. Mechanised
ANS: C
The clock was the first example of a digital device as it counted a regular sequence of discrete
actions.
PTS: 1
7. Whose economic analysis did the clock anticipate?
a. Adam Smith c. David Lodge
b. David Landes d. Adam Landes

, ANS: A
The clock anticipated the economic analaysis of Adam Smith, as the increase in the wealth of
nations comes from improvement in the productivity of labor.
PTS: 1
8. Where was printing invented?
a. Germany c. Switzerland
b. England d. China
ANS: D
Printing was invented in China in the ninth century.
PTS: 1
9. What institution encouraged the Europeans to cultivate invention?
a. The Church c. The work ethic
b. The University system d. The market
ANS: D
David Landes claimed that the market encouraged Europeans to cultivate invention.
PTS: 1
10. When did America transition from a pre-industrial society into the industrial age?
a. In 1776 c. Before the Revolution
b. In 1812 d. After the Civil War
ANS: D
According to Ruth Schwartz Cown America began to transition into the industrial age after the
Civil War.
PTS: 1
11. When was the first telegraph line built?
a. 1786 c. 1843
b. 1820 d. 1876
ANS: C
Morse and his partners built the first telegraph line in 1843.
PTS: 1
12. Who established America’s time zones?
a. Congress c. Railroad companies
b. The President d. Banks
ANS: C
At noon on 1883 railroad signalmen coordinated their watches across the country by agreement
among the managers of the nation’s railroads.
PTS: 1
13. Who patented the telephone?
a. Bell c. Rockefeller
b. Morse d. Morgan
ANS: A
Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876.
PTS: 1
14. How many motors were in factories by 1901?
a. Almost 200, 000 c. Almost 500, 000
b. Almost 400,000 d. Over 700, 000

, ANS: B
By 1901 almost 400, 000 motors had been installed in factories with a capacity of almost 5
million horsepower.
PTS: 1
15. What was the dominant form of lighting by 1920?
a. Gas c. Electricity
b. Kerosene d. Oil
ANS: C
By 1920 electricity had supplanted gas, kerosene, and oils for lighting.
PTS: 1
16. What did congestion bring in its wake?
a. Health c. Automobiles
b. Disease d. The powergrid
ANS: B
Congestion brought disease; all C19th American cities were periodically struck by epidemics.
PTS: 1
17. When did the American population triple?
a. Between 1840 and 1860 c. Between 1860 and 1920
b. Between 1850 and 1880 d. Between 1880 and 1940
ANS: C
The American population tripled between 1860 and 1920.
PTS: 1
18. When were the Immigration Restriction Acts passed?
a. 1886 c. 1928
b. 1924 d. 1931
ANS: B
The Immigration Restriction Acts were passed in 1924.
PTS: 1
19. What was the key machine in Mahatma Ghandi’s ideal world?
a. The clock c. The spindle machine
b. The sewing machine d. The spinning wheel
ANS: D
The spinning wheel was the key machine in Ghandi’s ideal world.
PTS: 1
20. What is the largest corporation in the world at the start of the twenty-first century?
a. Ford c. General Electric
b. Wal-Mart d. Nokia
ANS: B
Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world at the start of the twenty-first century, both by
annual sales and employee numbers.
PTS: 1